Harassment

We take cases of harassment very seriously. You can be confident that we will investigate the report thoroughly and that we will work to achieve a positive outcome wherever possible.

What is harassment?

Harassment is any deliberate act that interferes with the peace, comfort or safety of an individual or group because of their race, colour, religious belief, ethnic or national origin (racial harassment), their gender or sexuality (sexual harassment), their disability (disability harassment), their age, appearance or other personal attributes.

Harassment can occur in many forms and incidents can be subtle or blatant. Examples of harassment include:

• abusive language
• abusive or threatening behaviour
• physical assault
• damage to property
• graffiti
• behaviour that interferes with peaceful occupation of the home.

View our policy on harassment and our harassment advice leaflet for more information.

How to report harassment

If you experience harassment that you feel is motivated by your race, gender, sexuality, age, disability or religion, you can do the following:

• write down what happened with dates, the times and descriptions of those responsible
• report it to your Housing Officer
• report it to the police or ask your Housing Officer to report incidents to the police for you.

If you see or hear racial or sexual harassment (including vandalism) please report it to your Housing Officer even if you are not directly involved. Anything you say will be treated in confidence.

What we will do

We will take all complaints seriously and can arrange interviews in your own language if necessary. We will give you all the help we can. Here are some of the things we will do:

• visit you to take a detailed statement
• carry out any emergency repairs that may be needed
• take action to try to stop the harassment
• if the person harassing you is one of our tenants, a member of their family or their guest and they do not stop their actions, we will take steps to evict them
• provide extra security or try to move you if it is not safe for you to stay in your home
• put you in touch with local support groups.

While we hope preventative action will be effective in most cases, we will use legal enforcement action when required, providing we have sufficient evidence to support our case in court.

More information

If you are a Notting Hill Housing tenant who is experiencing harassment, or if you know someone who is experiencing harassment, contact your Housing Officer.

You can find further information about what to do if you experience discrimination, including harassment, on the Equality and Human Rights Commission website.